Homer, Iliad XXII 224-259

Athena appears to Hector disguised as his brother Deiophobus and offers to help him fight. Hector asks Achilles to swear an oath that the winner will refrain from mistreating the corpse of the loser, and will simply strip the armor and return the body.

It would be painful enough to witness the death of such an honorable figure without the divine machinery engaged here. As it is, what Homer shows us is a frightening world where honor and decency are not only ineffective, but irrelevant. [read full essay]

224: ὃ δ᾽: “and this one,” Achilles. χαῖρε θυμῷ: “delighted in his heart.” Joy, next to awe, is a regular reaction to divine manifestation.

225: στῆ: 3rd sg. unaugmented root aor. > ἵστημι. ἐρεισθείς: “leaning,” aor. pass. ptc. > ἐρείδω.

226: κιχήσατο: aor. mid. > κιχάνω, with active sense.

227: δέμας … φωνήν: acc. of respect (Goodell 537). προσηύδα: “began to address,” see 22.7.

229: ἠθεῖ’: “dear/trusted one,” = ἠθεῖ(ε), vocative direct address. ἦ μάλα δή: “quite truly now.”

230: ἄστυ πέρι: = περὶ ἄστυ.

231: ἄγε δὴ: “come on now.” στέωμεν … ἀλεξώμεσθα: “let us … let us…,” hortatory aor. subj > ἵστημι (στέωμεν = στήομεν, Αtt. στήωμεν).

232: τὴν δ᾽: “this one,” Athena, who, although now disguised as a man, is still referred to with the feminine pronoun.

233: Δηΐφοβ’: = Δηΐφοβε, vocative direct address. πολὺ: “by far.” ἦσθα: 2nd sg. impf. > εἰμί.

234: γνωτῶν: “of my relatives,” here more specifically “of my brothers,” partitive gen. (Monro 147.2). οὕς … παῖδας: “whom (Hecabe and Priam begot) as their children,” relative pronoun with predicate in apposition. τέκε: 3rd sg. aor. > τίκτω, in agreement with the last of the two subjects.

235: καὶ μᾶλλον: “even more,” adverbial καὶ. νοέω φρεσὶ: “I have in mind to” + inf. φρεσὶ > φρήν. τιμήσασθαι: aor. mid. inf. with no difference in meaning from the active. Supply acc. obj. σέ.

236: ὃς: “(you) who,” relative pronoun, whose antecedent is σέ understood in 235. ἔτλης: "you endured," "had toughness to,"  + infin., 2nd sg. root aor. > τλάω. ἴδες: aor. > εἶδον. ὀφθαλμοῖσι: dat. pl. of means.

237: τείχεος: “from the wall,” gen. of separation governed by ἐξ- of ἐξελθεῖν (Goodell 509.a). ἐξελθεῖν: aor. inf. > ἐξ-έρχομαι.

238: τὸν δ᾽: “this one,” Hector.

239: ἠθεῖ’: see 229. πολλὰ: “many times,” “often,” adverbial acc.

240: λίσσονθ᾽: = λίσσοντο, 3rd pl. dep. mid. impf. ἀμφὶ δ᾽ ἑταῖροι: “and my friends around (me) (begged me).” ἀμφὶ is adverbial.

241: τοῖον: “to such a degree” (Monro)

242: ἐτείρετο: impf. pass. > τείρω, “wear down, distress, trouble.”

243: ἰθὺς: “straightaway,” adverb. μεμαῶτε: "eagerly," dual nom. ptc. > μέμονα, reduplicated perf. with pres. sense (Monro 36.5). μαχώμεθα: “let us,” hortatory subj. μὴ … ἔστω: “let there not be at all sparing use of spears,” neg. 3rd pers. sg. imper. > εἰμί. δούρων: obj. gen. with φειδωλή.

244: ἵνα εἴδομεν: “so that…,” purpose clause with 3rd pl. subj. > οἶδα, Attic εἰδῶμεν, here with the short thematic vowel (Monro 80).

244–246: εἴ … ἦ: “whether he will carry away … or he will be conquered,” alternative indirect questions with prospective subjunctives (φέρηται, pres. mid. subj. > φέρω, and δαμήῃ, uncontracted 3rd sg. aor. pass subj. > δαμνάω/δαμάζω) that describe an imminent future action.

245: νῶϊ: “the two of us,” acc. 1st pl. pers. pronoun. κατακτείνας: nom. sg. aor. ptc.

247: ὣς: “so…,” closing the speech. φαμένη: pres. mid. ptc. > φημί, with no difference in meaning from the active, and often with the sense of completion (“having spoken”). καὶ: “in fact,” adverbial. κερδοσύνῃ: “with cunning,” dat. of manner, “cunningly” (Goodell 526.b).

248: οἳ δὴ: “these (two),” pl. rather than dual. ὅτε δὴ: “just when.” δὴ implies exactness. ἦσαν: 3rd pl. impf. > εἰμί. ἐπ᾽ ἀλλήλοισιν: “against one another.” ἰόντες: ptc. > εἶμι.

249: τὸν: Achilles. πρότερος: “first,” “earlier,” nom. adj. as adverb. Ἕκτωρ: a pendant nominative, developed from the pl. οἳ of 248.  

250: οὔ … ἔτι: “no longer.” φοβήσομαι: see 22.137. This is a rare transitive use (“I will flee you”). ὡς … περ: “just as,” “in the very manner as,” equivalent to ὡς, (a precursor of Att. ὥσπερ). τὸ πάρος: “previously,” adv.

251: δίον: “fled,” aor. 2 > δείδω (Monro, see LSJ s.v. δείδω 7).

252: μεῖναι ἐπερχόμενον: “to wait for (you) attacking,” aor. inf. > μένω, which governs the acc. obj. ἐπερχόμενον (pres. ptc. > ἐπ-έρχομαι), with an understood σε. ἀνῆκε: “urged, sent forth,” aor. > ἀν-ίημι.

253: στήμεναι: aor. inf. > ἵστημι (Monro 85.2). ἕλοιμί κεν… ἤ κεν ἁλοίην: “I might take (you) or I might be taken,” i.e. “I might kill (you) or be killed,” potential aor. opt. ἕλοιμι > αἱρέω, ἁλοίην > ἁλίσκομαι (the defective passive of αἱρέω).

254: ἄγε δεῦρο: “come now,” see 22.174. δεῦρο (lit. “hither”) simply strengthens ἄγε. θεοὺς ἐπιδώμεθα: “let us give (to one another) our gods,” i.e. “let us swear,” hortatory aor. mid. subjunctive > ἐπιδίδωμι. τοὶ: “these” gods.

256: ἔκπαγλον: adverbial acc., “outrageously,” “in a violent fashion,” “terribly”

256–257: ἀεικιῶ, αἴ κεν … δώῃ … ἀφέλωμαι: future-more-vivid condition. ἀεικιῶ: fut. > ἀεικίζω. δώῃ: 3rd sg. aor. subj. > δίδωμι. ἀφέλωμαι: 1st sg. aor. mid. > ἀφ-αιρέω.

257: καμμονίην: “withstanding,” “holding one’s ground,” a euphemism for victory (Monro).

258: ἐπεὶ … κέ … συλήσω, δώσω: “when(ever) I strip … I will give.” A general temporal clause, kindred with a future-more-vivid condition (Monro 296). συλήσω: governs a double acc., “strip x (acc.) from y (acc.)” (Goodell 534).

259: ὣς δὲ: “and in this way,” in the same way. ῥέζειν: infinitive used as an imperative.